


Life or Death

by burgundyskies



Category: Santa Clarita Diet (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-11
Updated: 2019-05-11
Packaged: 2020-03-01 00:33:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 631
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18789400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/burgundyskies/pseuds/burgundyskies
Summary: What happens after the final scene? I have to know, so I wrote it.





	Life or Death

Maybe it's weird that they don't talk about it. When Abby wakes up, tightly curled in Eric's arms and clinging to his shirt, it feels so natural that they don't need to have a conversation about her sleeping over. I mean, nothing happened anyway.

Well, unless you count the soft forehead kiss Eric gave her once he thought she was asleep, brushing his nose lightly against her hairline. But other than that.

When she returns home, she immediately smells something rancid, ruining her floaty feeling from the night before. Upon investigation, she finds her parents cleaning up an immense amount of vomit off the bathroom walls, and she just knows. She glances at her dad, who's looking at her apologetically, and it's clear: he's immortal, just like her mom.

And suddenly, Abby is _furious_. Mom bit him? Without consulting her opinion first? The three of them were supposed to be a team! Wasn't that what all of this drama about her succeeding Joel as a knight of Serbia was about?

And now, both of her parents are immortal, and she's not. They're going to live forever together, not growing old, and eating people to survive. Will Abby be doing any of that? Noooo. She'll be left behind to get wrinkles and die.

Alone.

 _Not alone_ , says a tiny voice in her head. She thinks of Eric, and how he immediately accepted her into his room last night. Eric, who has been by her side through thick and thin, always trying to protect her and putting her needs before his own. Eric, who rubbed her back until she was sleepy, and kissed her forehead gently for no other reason than because he cared about her.

Abby looks at her parents, who are now desperately trying to explain the situation to her--something about Mr. Ball Legs, and ears...but the details suddenly aren't important to Abby. She sees how desperate her parents are to keep each other safe, and she gets it. She'd do the same for Eric.

So, wordlessly, she picks up a mop and starts cleaning the bathroom floor, because this is her life now. Life or death, she chooses them, because that's what family does for each other.

When she returns to Eric's house that night, he's ready for her, a brand new toothbrush of her own set out, as well as the contact case and solution she left there accidentally. And after her encounter with her parents this morning, seeing how far they're willing to go for each other and put each other first, it's almost too much to see this small gesture from Eric. He's babbling away about he wasn't sure if she was coming but wanted to make sure she'd be comfortable, and about how his mom saw her leave this morning and gave him a talk about how to properly take care of a woman's needs that lasted far longer than it should have--

And that's when she kisses him, wrapping her fingers in his hair and pulling him close. He responds immediately, wrapping his arms around her waist and holding her gently. It's nice, this moment--no fear of her leaving forever hanging over them, no need to rush. This moment lingers between them as they hold each other tightly, no words necessary as their lips brush.

That's when it dawns on Abby: it doesn't matter if she's immortal. What matters is this, right now, taking in life while she's still around. What matters is the way Eric pulls away slightly to rest his forehead on hers, smiling shyly. Immortality may give her endless tomorrows, but she only has one today, and as she and Eric slide under the covers once more, she promises to make the most of it while she still can.

**Author's Note:**

> tbh I am still not ready to give these characters up even though the show has been cancelled for a few weeks now. this is the first work I've ever posted? I guess? so have mercy on me haha. thanks for reading!


End file.
